Ghosts of Rapture
Why did I come to Rapture? Huh. Hadn't thought about "why" for a long time now. Maybe never really did. If I had, maybe wouldn't have come down here.
It was after the war.
No, I didn't see any action. Was in logistics. Nothin but a fancy way of saying I was a Supply Sargent. But I was good at it, real good in fact. Cap'n wanted me to stay when we started demobilizin'. Couldn't stand it any longer though. Oh, not the job, loved what I was doin'. Figuring out the right stuff to move, how to move it and when to move it. I couldn't get enough of it. Had to keep track of the other guys though, They would be shippin' winter coats to the front in July if I didn't keep a watch on 'em.
Couldn't stand all the discipline. Had to have your uniform just the right way, salute everybody, getting' up at 5AM, not for me. After I got out it was hard getting a job, lots of other people were lookin' for work too. Bummed around a couple a months before I found something. "As you Like It Transport". That was the name.
Oh, a play by Shakespeare? Huh, didn't know that.
Well, before I started they certainly were a joke. Shippin' the wrong things, empty trucks runnin' around, full trucks just sittin' at the warehouse. What a' mess. Took me a month to get it cleaned up. And just in time too. They had a big contract and were just about to lose it when I got there.
Was there about two years movin' all kinds of stuff. Steel one day, furniture the next and then is was carpentry tools or something else. Didn't care what we were moving', just wanted to get it done right. Then out of the blue the contract got canceled. Lot of the guys were throwing a fit. Week later I was back pounden' the pavement looking for a new job.
Then I got a visit from a guy I knew. He was with the company we'd had the contract with. Said some very important people had noticed me and he was there to make an offer. I thought it would be for a job. Boy, was I wrong about that.
Sure that you got the same kinda spiel I did. The Great Chain of Progress, safety from the coming nuclear war, no big government, the freedom to be anything we wanted to be. And it was all in one place.
A City called Rapture.
Still remember the trip down. Big beautiful skyscrapers coming out of the darkness, lights that put Times Square to shame. A utopia under the sea.
Yeah, it was somethin' really special back then. Once I started to get settled in I figured out that I'd helped get the place built. All the stuff I have been shippen' at my old job was bein' sent down here. Never saw anyone else from my old job, not that I missed any of 'em. Guess they thought I was the only one that was worth bringing down.
The first years down here where pretty good. Had a good job, good friends, a nice place up in Worthington Plaza, met a few nice girls, one of them even liked me. I was... I was even starting to think about popin' the question to her. Never got the chance. That's when everything started goin' to hell for me.
What happened? What happened was I got fired. Had things runnin' like clockwork, but the boss wanted to save money. So I got canned. Guy they hired to replace me only got paid half what I did. "Cost cutting" they said. Tried to sue, but with the all fine print in my contract, no lawyer would touch the case.
Tried findin' another job, but not much call for what I'm good at. Had some money saved up, but it wouldn't last forever. Started taking small time clerking jobs. Didn't pay much and usually didn't last long. I cut costs and moved to someplace cheaper, wasn't Artemis Suites, but not a whole lot better. That's when I noticed my friends weren't returning my calls like they used to. Alice started bein' "busy" when I wanted to go out.
Yeah, she dumped me for Robert. Took me two weeks to find out.
Thanks. Thought I knew them, that they were my friends. Turned out didn't know 'em at all.
Started getting harder to find office work to do. Damn machines were takin' over. So started branchin' out some. Learned how to do some repair work. Got more work, but wasn't make'n much money. Was always gettin' stiffed one way or another. Pay was rock bottom, they sometimes would have me pay for the parts I needed or they find something in the contract to screw me with. Spending every night down at Taffies Bar getting plastered by myself wasn't helpin' either.
No, didn't make any new friends. Talked to people, but... they really weren't friends. If I let down my guard they could stab me in the back.
No, you're right. They all weren't that way. But... I wasn't taken no chances back then. Had to look out for myself. No one else in this damn city would that's for sure.
Spent a couple years livin' hand to mouth, drinking too much and goin' to bed hungry some nights. And it got worse, I started losing jobs. A couple of guys were gettin' em all. Didn't take long to figure out why. They were using Plasmids. They could do the jobs faster than I could. And faster meant cheaper.
So I scrapped enough together to get a Plasmid. Telekinesis it was. Did ya splice?
Then you know how it was, that first splice. It hurt, but once the pain was over you felt like you were a new man, or woman in your case. Like you were better.
Started gettin' jobs again, few weeks later didn't start feelin' so good. Like I wanted somethin' but didn't know what. Was already been savin' for a Gene Tonic and when I got it I started feelin' better. Stupid that I didn't figure out why. Naw, that's not it, didn't want to figure it out.
I did hear the rumors, but didn't believe 'em. Being spliced felt so good. A while later a big chunk of my hair fell out in the shower, but wasn't enough. Gums started bleddin' and still couldn't believe. Took someone callin' me a "Splicer" before it sunk in, I mean really sunk in.
Your teeth started fallin' out? I'm sorry, musta have been rough.
Don't think I need to go into what happened next much. Only way to stay halfway normal was to keep splicing. Started wantin' to splice again after only a couple hours some days. Then that bastard Fontaine started raisin' the price. Got us hooked and started turning the screws. Was washin' toilets to get money to splice, but always needed more. So started stellin'. You can be one hell of a pickpocket with telekinesis if you're careful.
Not proud of what I did, but was so desperate I couldn't stop myself. Hope you didn't…
Oh, sorry. Guess we both have a lot of regrets about what we did.
That's about the time I started hearin' about Atlas. Seen a few people try to organize before, start a union. They usually ended up in a back alley someplace with a lot of broken bones. Heard some idiot tried to organize at Fontaine's. Never found out what happened to him.
Fontaine did…? What a bad way to go.
Went and saw that Atlas fella one night, he a great talker, made a lot'a sense. He understood what it was like to be poor down here. Wasn't ready to join up, but not far from it. Few days after that Andrew Ryan dropped the hammer on Fontaine. Wish I had been there when Franky boy bought it and I hope it hurt.
You know, I actually though it might get better. Maybe Ryan could come up with a cure for splicing. Didn't think that for long though. Ryan took over all of Fontaine's businesses and jacked up the price of Plasmids more. Atlas and his people made a stink, but that got him shipped off to "jail" in Fontaine's Department Store.
Then there were the Little Sisters. Made me sick, but I couldn't … I couldn't stop.
Yeah, some people tried not to think 'bout it. Lot more… just didn't care.
When everything blew up on New Year's I decided that was going to be my only chance. Take down Ryan and all his fat cat friends. Might be able to make Rapture into a good place again. So I joined up with Atlas.
Hah. No, they didn't even ask me if I could shoot. They just handed me a gun and pointed me towards the front with some other people. Nobody knew what they were doin'. Tried talking to one of Atlas's guys, Nicky his name was, but he wouldn't listen. Wish my old training Sargent would have been there. Would have straightened Nicky out in no time. But I wanted to get into the fight and didn't push it. Maybe should have.
Ryan's people had set up a barricade down the street and we needed to take it down. Nicky had the bright idea of just getting a bunch of people together and rushing it. He's already done it twice and I was supposed to be part of the third try. I had a better idea, work my way around and get behind it. Nobody would listen to me, so I went by myself.
Not brave, not really. Though I might save some people's lives and get somebody to listen to me.
Ryan's people weren't much smarted than Nicky was, didn't have anybody watching their flank. Or maybe didn't have enough people, don't know. I found a spot about fifteen yards or so behind Ryan's goons. Close enough for a good shot, but not too close. Was waiting for Nicky's idiot rush to start. Figured I could get 'em while they were distracted.
No, never killed anyone before, but I was ready, eager even. Some revenge for what they did to Rapture.
Never got the chance. While I waiting I heard somethin' behind me. I turn around and not ten feet behind me were two of Ryan's goons. What they were there for, I don't know. Reinforcements maybe. They were surprised as I was, but I couldn't turn around fast enough. Both opened up before I could get a shot off.
So that's how it ended for me, face down in the street full of lead. Didn't even accomplish anythin'.
That's my story. So why did a nice young lady like you come to Rapture and how did ya die?